Pais Vasco: Alaphilippe wins opening stage

Quick-Step Floors extended their winning streak into Spain, with Frenchman Julian Alaphilippe taking out the opening stage of the Vuelta al Pais Vasco in Zarautz over Primoz Roglic (LottoNl-Jumbo).

The pair escaped on the steep final climb with 9km to go with Movistar's Nairo Quintana, but left the Colombian behind on the upper slopes before forging out a 23-second lead on the sinuous, hair-raising descent that followed.

Roglic led into the final 200 metres, giving Alaphilippe the jump. While the Slovenian mounted a spirited return, his bike-throw fell half a wheel shy and Alaphilippe claimed the stage and first leader's jersey.

Pello Bilbao (Astana) led the chasing group to the line for third.

With the time bonus, Alaphilippe leads Roglic by four seconds, with Bilbao at 29 and the rest of the chase group at 33 seconds.

"I am very happy, especially as I got sick after Milan-San Remo and had to rest before returning to training," Alaphilippe said. "I was very motivated after this small setback, so I worked hard to be back at my best. The plan was to take a stage here and even though we did a recon of the final climb yesterday and on paper it suited me, I didn’t know how my legs would react following that break.

"I was focused, smart and strong, I worked well together with Roglic, who too was very strong, and in the end I bided my time before powering to this nice win. A big thanks to my team for protecting me today and to the amazing crowds, who cheered for us before the start and at the finish."

How it unfolded

Vuelta Ciclista al Pais Vasco kicked off on Monday with some tired legs on the start line as riders like Vincenzo Nibali arrived to Zarautz after competing in the previous day's Tour of Flanders.

It was no easy start to the six-day race with five categorised climbs during the 162.1km stage. The climbing started with Jaizkibel (8.8km/5.2%), a category 2 ascent at 57km.

A succession of category 3 ascents followed with Maddiola (8.4km/4.2%) at the 84km mark, Garate Gaina (3.5km/6.2%) at the 104km mark, and Aia (9.5km/3.4%) at 139km.

The stage finished with a category 2 climb over Elkano Gaina (2.4km/9%), and from the top it was seven kilometres to the finish line in Zarautz.

A breakaway of four riders cleared the field early on and gained 1:35. Those riders were Amanuel Ghebreigzabhier Werkilu (Dimension Data), Ibai Salas Zorrozua (Burgos BH), Jonathan Lastra Martinez (Caja Rural-Seguros RGA) and Aitor Gonzalez (Euskadi Basque Country-Murias).

Their gap never reached beyond the two-minute mark, and finally on the category 3 Aia with 26km to go, they were swept up by the peloton.

Team Sky and Movistar drove the pace on the descent, hurtling down the twisty descent toward the final climb.

It was a flat-out lead-out into the base of the steep final climb, with Team Sky, Movistar and Bora-Hansgrohe battling to position their climbers at the head of the field.

Primoz Roglic (LottoNl-Jumbo) pushed the first split, joined by Julian Alaphilippe (Quick-Step Floors) and Nairo Quintana (Movistar), opening on a solid gap on the peloton mid-way into the Elkano Gaina.

Quiintana surprisingly failed to hold onto the wheel of Alaphilippe as Roglic pushed the pace with 1km to go to the top.

Cheered on by the throngs of Basque fans at the summit, Alaphilippe and Roglic hammered over the crest and onto the fast descent with a 22 second gap on the chasers as Quintana was caught by them.

With Enric Mas disrupting the attempt to close the gap, the duo out front held onto 23 seconds at the line, with Alaphilippe scoring the top time bonus and race lead.

The Vuelta Ciclista al Pais Vasco will continue on Tuesday with stage 2's 152.7km race from Zarautz to Bermeo.

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